Close Encounters of the Third Kind 4K UHD (1977) (40th Anniversary Edition)

[Geoff D]

One bit that I noticed looked SUPER good was the shots of the native dudes in the desert, before the cars and the choppers zoom overhead. I could be wrong but IIRC some of that stuff was shot 3 years later for the SE and it shows.

[robgmun]

Originally Posted by bradnoyes

Had a chance to watch this last night and I have to say that I didn't experience anything like this or the other pictures posted. Grain looked good to me and the HDR scenes weren't so washed out (I could clearly see the sign in the frame posted above).

Only issue I noticed with the disc were a handful of scenes that looked almost TOO good compared to the rest of the movie. It felt more like I was looking through a window as opposed to watching a film. IIRC it happened mostly towards the end of the film in some of the close-ups and some wide shots of the spaceship. All in all I really enjoyed it. I'm liking these old releases more and more after recently watching this, A Few Good Men, and Dracula.

This could be a complete pain but...

Could you please post your HDR setting for your TV? I have an E7 so it should be same as mine. I need to fix this!!

[bradnoyes]

Originally Posted by robgmun

This could be a complete pain but...

Could you please post your HDR setting for your TV? I have an E7 so it should be same as mine. I need to fix this!!

I'll try to come back later and post the specifics but I know I was using HDR Dark (or is it Standard? In any case it's not the Vivid or bright setting) while watching this. Off the top of my head I can't recall my exact brightness/contrast settings but I'm pretty sure I keep my brightness at 49. Incidentally, I've noticed there is a pretty huge jump in the feel of the image if I switch just one unit between 49 and 50 and I think I've changed all my setting to 49 since it seemed much more natural to me than the default of 50.

Oh, and I keep all the additional picture modes off (Trumotion, dynamic contrast, super resolution, etc...)

[jaaguir]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

One bit that I noticed looked SUPER good was the shots of the native dudes in the desert, before the cars and the choppers zoom overhead. I could be wrong but IIRC some of that stuff was shot 3 years later for the SE and it shows.

I don't know if this has anything to do with that, but according to the imdb:

"Although Steven Spielberg continued to support Vilmos Zsigmond, creating what the cinematographer called "a very rewarding" experience, Zsigmond was not asked to shoot additional sequences and shots that were needed after the company left Alabama. He believed this was largely the work of Julia Phillips and the studio. Although Zsigmond shot about 90 percent of the picture, additional material (the India sequence, the discovery of the lost Air Force squadron, etc.) was shot by others, primarily William A. Fraker, as well as Douglas Slocombe, John A. Alonzo, and László Kovács, all of whom received on-screen credit as additional directors of photography, a vindictive move by Phillips, by her own admission."

And what I mean is, different DP, different style? just guessing.

[Nick Laslett]

Originally Posted by robgmun

This could be a complete pain but...

Could you please post your HDR setting for your TV? I have an E7 so it should be same as mine. I need to fix this!!

Rob,

If you have an E7, the settings for a B6 won’t help.

According to BradNoyes sig he has a LG OLED65B6P.

The B6 is even very different from the E6, it has a different processor. I followed loads of discussion over at AVSForum and AVforum about this fact.

With the E7 you get the Active HDR processing which can be turned on by setting Dynamic Contrast to Low. LG added this feature because some films are mastered to 1000 nits, others 4000 nits and they each need a different HDR Tone Map. CEOTTK MaxNits 4000 MaxCLL 10000 MaxFALL 791

There is a GoogleSheets doc that lists the HDR particulars if you are interested. (I can’t post links yet)

The scene you posted with the white light, the Tone Mapping on the TV is clipping the bright highlights, Active HDR setting should address that.

The issue with how the OLED handles the heavy grain which causes the posterisation artifacts is not something I fully understand yet. Hopefully calibrating 2-point HDR greyscale will help.

On my E6 the iTunes Dolby Vision versions of films I’ve tried look much better than the UHD disks, because of how the HDR Tone Mapping works with HDR10. (This is specific to the 2016 OLEDs)

[Stevie81]

Just watched this again, in glorious 4K and it looked fantastic. Hadn't seen in about 14 years so fell in love with it all over again, especially appreciating the understated presence of Truffaut and the sheer mania expressed by Dreyfuss. Outstanding casting. They simply don't make films like this anymore, with such awe and wonder. Spielberg is a one-off.

[s2mikey]

Originally Posted by Nick Laslett

Rob,

If you have an E7, the settings for a B6 won’t help.

According to BradNoyes sig he has a LG OLED65B6P.

The B6 is even very different from the E6, it has a different processor. I followed loads of discussion over at AVSForum and AVforum about this fact.

With the E7 you get the Active HDR processing which can be turned on by setting Dynamic Contrast to Low. LG added this feature because some films are mastered to 1000 nits, others 4000 nits and they each need a different HDR Tone Map. CEOTTK MaxNits 4000 MaxCLL 10000 MaxFALL 791

There is a GoogleSheets doc that lists the HDR particulars if you are interested. (I can’t post links yet)

The scene you posted with the white light, the Tone Mapping on the TV is clipping the bright highlights, Active HDR setting should address that.

The issue with how the OLED handles the heavy grain which causes the posterisation artifacts is not something I fully understand yet. Hopefully calibrating 2-point HDR greyscale will help.

On my E6 the iTunes Dolby Vision versions of films I’ve tried look much better than the UHD disks, because of how the HDR Tone Mapping works with HDR10. (This is specific to the 2016 OLEDs)

Interesting stuff. I have a 65" E6 and am pretty happy with my HDR performance on this disc and other UHDs so far. I use HDR standard but make some of my own tweaks. I have dynamic contrast off. Is it worth turning Dynamic Contrast ON for HDR and DV content for my 2016 MY set? Maybe Ill try it for the hell of it.

The DV content Ive tried also looks great but my UHD player doesnt support DV so the only DV content I have tried is USB demo files or Netflix. I dont remember much posteurization on CE3K but I watched it about 2 months ago. Ill watch again and see though.

[brian9229]

Watched this UHD for the first time last night since I upgraded my monitor and sweet mother of pearl! I thought the Blu-ray was a beauty, but this was something else entirely.

[Chloenator]

Originally Posted by brian9229

Watched this UHD for the first time last night since I upgraded my monitor and sweet mother of pearl! I thought the Blu-ray was a beauty, but this was something else entirely.

I haven't watched it yet, but I actually just got it recently from Best Buy for $14.99. Technically, I didn't pay for it though. My brother did. lol I used a gift card for it that he bought me for Christmas.

[harpolini]

I've been seeing some info and pictures from users about the HDR blowing out and crushing details of the image. I had the same problem and I might have a solution. I'm no expert and YMMV. Pictures below in spoilers tag.

[Show spoiler]The culprit for me is the black level. I have a LG non-OLED 4K(LG UJ6200, Best Buys version of the UJ6300) and use the Standard HDR setting because it's the only one able to achieve a normal brightness level without having to turn on the dynamic contrast as a post patch temp fix. My UHD player is the XBOX One S.



I changed my black level to high and lowered my brightness until I got black levels that looked good to my eye before it just obscured detail. It's made all my other HDR content look so much better. Now that first encounter with the truck doesn't have that detail blinding white light issue.

[ROSS.T.G.]

Went ahead and ordered. I still have the Blu in its wrapper. Ordered with Leon and Bridge. Last of the Sony catalogue titles I needed.

Edit: delivered with slip so did Bridge but not Leon.

[dyne]

Did this come with a slip at at launch? Just got my copy today from Amazon and the shrink wrap was open on the bottom of the case. Otherwise it’s fine.

[NotASpeckOfCereal]

Originally Posted by dyne

Did this come with a slip at at launch? Just got my copy today from Amazon and the shrink wrap was open on the bottom of the case. Otherwise it’s fine.

Was it missing the digital code page on the inside? That happened to me one time when I bought a disc and found the shrink wrap slit at the bottom. Someone tweezered out the digital code page and put it back on the shelf/in the channel (it's hard to tell where this happened).

[dyne]

Just checked and it was still in there.

[jerclay]

Just watched it. Damn, what a treat! It's so filmic, I could even forgive the ugly player-generated subs for foreign languages. Being as picky as I am about those things, still I can hardly imagine myself ever going back to 2007 blu ray again. Oh well. Maybe on the 45th Anniversary they'll do right by me.

[jerclay]

Does it even have a slipcover? Got mine without one.

[brainofj72]

Yes, it originally came with a slip.

[Theta Sigma]

I haven't yet upgraded my player or TV to 4k, but I was looking to future-proof this film for when I do. Can anyone tell me if the regular Blu-ray included has the new transfer so I can enjoy it in the meantime, and if the UHD is a substantial upgrade? Going through reviews and forum comments, I seem to be seeing conflicting reports. (I should state I'm asking about the UK release, as again I've seen the odd comment about it appearing different across the pond)

[guachi]

I loved the UHD. It was the second movie I saw on my 4k TV.

The short version is that CE3K is a Sony release and Sony has no bad 4k releases.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by Theta Sigma

I haven't yet upgraded my player or TV to 4k, but I was looking to future-proof this film for when I do. Can anyone tell me if the regular Blu-ray included has the new transfer so I can enjoy it in the meantime, and if the UHD is a substantial upgrade? Going through reviews and forum comments, I seem to be seeing conflicting reports. (I should state I'm asking about the UK release, as again I've seen the odd comment about it appearing different across the pond)

It's a great upgrade, but since the original film stock was higher speed, it is a grainy film. It would have been really enhanced in Atmos, but for some reason, was not remixed.

The blown out highlights seem to be mostly user error in their TV settings. I don't know about the UK, but Sony released the new 4k set with updated 1080p discs.